Sparkling Sweets and Christmas Treats
by Minibot Love
Summary: Jazz averts a small Christmas crisis before Santa arrives. One-shot, fluffy goodness.


A/N:  Got distracted - wrote a Christmas story. Yay XD The unnamed little bots are semi-spoilers to my other story if you can guess who belongs to who.

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Jazz hummed softly as he strode through the corridors, taking one more appreciative glance at the décor that had been strung up in the base - garland bedecked with pinecones and berries lined the top of every doorway and hundreds upon hundreds of tiny, twinkling white lights dangled against the walls, reflected against the gleaming orange metal making it seem like twice as many sparkling little stars filled the hallway. Christmas was such a festive holiday - the humans certainly decorated their own quarters up quite spiffily, with a tree taller than they were covered in baubles and lights and plastic icicles with a comparatively large star perched precariously on the top; little plants hanging from every doorway where Spike delighted in catching Carly beneath, making Daniel groan at the 'gross' display from his parents; lights and shiny, silver strands of what could only be short bits of thread (as far as any of the Autobots were concerned) were tossed haphazardly about, and often became the source of Red Alert's seasonal ire when mixed with the numerous lights abounding around their quarters even more than the rest of the base. Several of the bots had adopted the yearly festival with vigor, delighting in the change of décor and the overall sense of good will that bled from humans to mechs and back again, doubling in strength with each rebound.

Chuckling to himself, Jazz slipped into the Rec Room. It was quiet at this hour, most mechs recharging for their shifts the following morning, only Spike and Daniel in sight, sitting quietly in the corner where the human-scale furniture resided, Spike with his feet propped up and Daniel sprawled across his lap, sound asleep. The enormous evergreen with its roots in stasis sat in the corner, covered with mech-sized ornaments of varying degrees of artistry. Most of the Autobots had made one to represent themselves, at the insistence of the human trio, and hung them on the tree with other little bits of decoration - Bumblebee's was a little yellow bee painted to be quite happy with glitter-covered wings; Prowl's was a Rubix Cube, probably a normal toy with a bit of ribbon tied on to make an ornament; Blaster's was an oversized pair of headphones painted in his colors; and Optimus had even made one, much to his own embarrassment when he was caught trying to sneak it onto the tree so it would go unnoticed in the chaos - a small sphere thickly covered in glitter and encircled with a silver halo of some sort, probably meant to be the Matrix of Leadership. The many thousands of lights thoroughly covering the tall pine were lit, some blinking in random little patterns amongst the branches, since Spike had said it was tradition to leave all the decorations lit on Christmas Eve, so that Santa could find his way to the house and put presents under the tree.

As Jazz made his way towards the Energon dispenser, his optics fell on a rather large tray of treats sitting unattended on the table nearby. Energon goodies, oil cakes, a veritable cornucopia of sweets made fresh and left, untouched, out in the open. Another part of the festive holiday traditions, and one Jazz was particularly fond of, was to be completely overloaded with sweets - cookies, cakes, pastries of all shapes and sizes and flavors were served between the humans, family visitors and even the diplomats whenever they came to call upon Optimus. The liaisons always took readily to Carly's appearance, blonde hair swept up out of the way and clothes liberally dusted with flour, a sweet smile on her face as she offered them fresh-baked sugary treats. For the bots, the ingredients were different, but the overall effect was the same - sweets and goodies piled in boxes and passed along to one another, fine-grade Energon cubes from small servings of vintage Towers brew to cubes of flavorful, experimental brews of solar and nuclear energy were plentiful amongst the crew, toasting and cheering one another. Jazz, glancing around the quiet room and deciding it was safe enough, couldn't quite quell the urge to indulge himself and reached for one of the oil cakes on the tray.

"NO JAZZ!" a little chorus of chirps greeted the saboteur from behind the couch, thoroughly startling him. He leapt back, dropping the treat back onto the table as though it had burned him, and nearly laughed in relief at the bright little optics _glaring_ at him from over the couch's back. The little red mech pulled himself up onto the top of the couch, wings on his head fluttering as he steadied himself, pointing accusingly towards the adult mech. "Those are for Santa! You can't have them!"

"Santa, eh?" Jazz glanced around the Rec Room for their ever-present human companions - Spike sat off to the side, chortling quietly as he smoothed down his sleeping son's hair against his chest. Apparently the man had taken it upon himself to educate the new arrivals on human customs. "Ain't Santa a human?"

The three sparklings looked between each other for a moment, uncertain about the line of questioning. "Well…yeah…"

"And ya know that humans can't have Energon, dontcha?" Jazz chuckled softly as the sudden realization swept through the little bots and their defiant protection of their treats evaporated with the sad slump of their shoulders. As their heads hung low, Jazz felt a guilty tug at his tanks, watching the bright little optics dim and fill with cleanser as they whimpered, realizing they had no goodies for Santa to invite him to leave presents. Jazz came around the couch and knelt by them, grinning brightly in an attempt to fend off the coming tears, "Buuuuut, I bet ya we can put together some human treats for him real quick-like."

"Really?" Little doorwings fluttered hopefully, optics brightening once more as he gazed up at the larger black and white with a brilliant smile.

Jazz smiled fondly, leaning to kiss the little black helm, followed by a quick peck on the tiny nose. "Sure we can, buddy. Carly's probably still awake, I think. Let's see if she'll help us, huh?"

The three little bots clambered off the couch, racing each other to the door as they squeezed through before it fully opened and bolted down the corridors towards the human quarters. Jazz paused to glance towards Spike with a grin. "Sparklin's… heh…" The man chuckled in reply, offering an understanding nod as he gathered his sleepy child into his arms, climbing into Jazz's offered hand. "Hope we don't wake 'im."

"He'll be fine. Daniel has slept through Red Alert's alarms before - a couple of toddlers aren't going to bother him." Spike twisted to stretch his back slightly without dislodging his son, groaning a bit. "I'm starting to feel old, watching all these kids with bright eyes get so excited over the holiday…makes me wish Dad could have seen them - he would have loved the sparklings."

Jazz smirked sadly at him, walking briskly to catch up to the excitable trio without jostling the organics. "We sure do miss Sparkplug around here - Ole Ratch just ain't been the same without his buddy, ya know."

"So do I, Jazz…" Spike sighed quietly, resting back against the spy's fingers.

The sparklings were struggling with one another to be the first to get Carly's attention, waving and calling her from outside the human quarters of the base. Jazz chuckled, planting his palm against his face as he laughed for a moment at the sight of Carly, hair half-bundled and looking ready for bed in her robe and slippers, looking back and forth between the three little bots, trying to decipher their excited babble. Jazz knelt to let Spike down, turning a grin to the woman who had planted her hands on her hips and was regarding Jazz with a suspicious, but amused smirk. "Carly, sorry to bother ya this late 'n all, but we got ourselves a situation."

"Oh, really?" A blonde brow arched towards the bot before she leaned to kiss her slumbering son on the forehead and shoo the males inside their quarters. "And what situation would that be?"

"SANTA WON'T LIKE OUR TREATS, CARLY!" Arms waving about frantically, the little blue and red sparkling was nearly fritzing with worry. "Humans don't like Energon or oil or any of our treats - Santa won't come at all 'cause he doesn't like what we left him!"

Carly obviously struggled with her urge to laugh at the poor, pleading little bots. "Oh, my!" she cried with feigned despair at their predicament. "Well, let's just fix that right now - stay right here." Jazz's grin broadened at the giggles Carly couldn't quite stifle all the way as she retreated into her kitchen, and he turned to smile down at the anxious little mechs. "See? Carly'll help ya get some treats for Santa."

Three brilliant smiles were returned to him, making him chuckle as he knelt down to rub their little helms. Carly returned after just a moment, bearing a plate with a few cookies of varying types and a large glass of milk balanced on the side. "Here you are, sweetsparks - Santa will really like these." She held the tray out to Jazz, bypassing the little mechs that would inevitably spill the milk and drop the cookies and come running back to their quarters in tears for more before Old Saint Nicholas passed them by. Jazz took the tiny plate with quiet thanks, echoed enthusiastically by the three little ones who fairly pounced on the human femme to hug her. Carly laughed, patting them fondly before she ushered them away. "Go on, now. He'll be here soon."

Jazz lifted his feet out of the way of the renewed stampede of little bots bolting back towards the Rec Room. Laughing softly, he bid Carly goodnight and traipsed after them, shaking his head with a grin. The sparklings bounced back onto the couch where they'd apparently set up a small fort of pillows and blankets, piled and turned so they could watch the tree at all times. Jazz hooked the toe of his pede beneath one of the human tables and dragged it over beside the tree, setting the cookies and milk down within reach for Santa before he stood and regarded the three little mechs with a grin. Their optics were over-bright with excitement, staring fixedly at the tree, just waiting for the tell-tale sound of bells and the possibility of Red Alert's intruder alarms should Santa not be quite sneaky enough. "Ain't ya forgettin' somethin', boys?"

They blinked a couple times, looking between each other questioningly before turning to Jazz. The saboteur chuckled heartily, leaning down in a conspiring whisper, "He sees ya when you're sleepin', and he knows when you're awake, right? He ain't gonna come if ya ain't sleepin', ya know. It's almost midnight; he'll be passin' by any minute now." The panicked little squeaks were amusing in their own right, but Jazz couldn't help the fit of quiet giggles that overcame him when they promptly threw themselves down onto the couch, covering themselves completely with the blankets, and offlined their optics. Jazz stayed knelt by the little bots, gently rubbing helms and back struts, listening for the shift of their systems. As they cycled down into recharge, the saboteur stood and headed for the door, turning the lights down slowly until the lit tree was the only source of illumination in the room. He grinned at the figure hovering just outside the door, winding his arms around the other's waist, "Sound asleep - they'll be fine 'til mornin'."

Prowl offered Jazz an indulgent smile, pressing his head against the spy's shoulder with a happy little sigh. "You handle them so well - I would have been beside myself trying to get them to recharge." He chuckled quietly, offering a light kiss to Jazz's neck cables, "Ironhide was looking for them earlier, and Red Alert hasn't let them out of his sight on the monitors all evening."

Jazz grinned, nodding in understanding, and tapped his comm. line, _::Rudolph to Big Red.::_

_ ::Big Red here, go ahead, Rudolph.:: _

Prowl covered his face to muffle the snicker he tried _so_ hard to stifle at their chosen designations. Jazz only grinned - any chance to make Prowl laugh was a victory in his book. _::The elves are down for the count - ready for delivery.::_

_ ::Understood - Delivery's ETA is at five minutes and counting. Prancer is inbound to your location.::_

_ ::Make sure Prancer keeps his cloak engaged - it won't do to have the little ones see him if they __**do**__ wake up.::_

_ ::Understood, Rudolph.:: _ A deep rumbling chuckle rolled across the comm. _::Merry Christmas, Jazz. Big Red out.::_

_ ::Merry Christmas, 'Hide. Merry Christmas, Mirage. Thank ya both. Rudolph out.:: _

Jazz tugged Prowl gently down the hallway to their quarters, pausing in the open doorway with a glance up to the little bundle of greenery hanging overhead. "Well, well, now where did that come from, I wonder?"

Prowl offered the plant a glance and a slight smirk, raising an optic ridge at his Bondmate. "I wonder, indeed… Well, as long as I have you here…" He wound his arms around Jazz's neck to pull him in for a soft kiss, tenderly nuzzling their noses together. "You know," he started, his voice dropping into a lower range as his fingers slid idly down from the saboteur's shoulders to his back and down to his hips, "he'll be in the Rec Room until morning… we'll be by ourselves all recharge cycle…"

Jazz chuckled, sliding his arms further around Prowl's chassis, idly tickling the bottom edge of one of the sweeping sensory panels. "Izzat so, Prowler…?"

The Datsun squirmed in his arms, vents catching quietly in a soft gasp, "You haven't even unwrapped your present yet, Jazz…"

"Well, by all means, let's not leave it under the tree…" He tugged the tactician inside, letting the door slide shut behind them.


End file.
